Long Island Stations & Structures

by Paul S. Luchter

Photo by Paul S. Luchter

Greetings from Hewlett . . .

This South Side RR depot, built in 1870, has been used for 130 years straight. This
is looking
northeastward towards Valley Stream, the modern high platforms are behind us across Franklin
Street. Tickets are still sold inside the depot. This
picture angle, taken in 1994, is now impossible to
take, a big ugly metal storage box is next to the depot obscuring it from this
angle.

The 1869 South Side RR went from Williamsburg to Patchogue, it also went to the
Rockaways. It was called the Southern Railroad briefly before merging with
the Long Island RR. I believe this is the only SouthSide depot still used by the Long Island RR.

Augustus Hewlett donated the land for the station. The Hewletts, as a Long Island family dated back to 1649, an ancestor
signed Charles I's death certificate. Many of the Hewletts had been
Tory's in the Revolutionary War era but many remained, one of their farmhouses survives
and has been fixed up for a soon to open Woman's Center.